Cultured
by Tari Silmarwen
Summary: One-shot. Estelle invites Yuri over for dinner.


(A/N)- Requested by someone on Tumblr, a little bit of fluff with my Vesperia OTP.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly, alas, I do not own any fandoms.

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**Cultured**

Yuri watched Estelle bustle and rush around the kitchen with a small amount of rising concern. Ingredients were scattered haphazardly around the small counter and the pot of boiling water Estelle had on the stove was eeking dangerously close to simmering over.

It seemed, in her eagerness to try her hand at cooking him his favorite dish from his favorite hometown restaurant, she was quite forgetting all her own cooking ability.

"Uh, Estelle, that pot…" he pointed out.

She appeared right next to it in a flash, hastily turning down the heat before the scalding water could spill. "Right! Sorry!" she blurted, moving back to whatever it was that she had on her chopping block.

Yuri's eyes wrinkled. "Are you sure you don't want any help?" he asked. "It's been ages since you've actually cooked anything, maybe you're a little rusty?"

"I'm fine!" Estelle squeaked quickly, though her noticed her hands shaking nervously. "I've got this."

Seeing her dart a glance at him and then avert her face, burying her attention in her meal preparation, a realization dawned on him and Yuri smiled. _Ah, so she's just anxious because it's supposed to be a treat for me_, he figured. He was making her all flustered and jittery, so she was completely forgetting how to do things. That made sense.

Relaxing a little in his seat, Yuri let his eyes and mind wander. After a minute or two the concoction in the pot did start to smell absolutely wonderful.

He glanced over just as Estelle was preparing to drop a handful of small whiteish disks into the pot.

Eyes widening, Yuri lunged from his seat, grabbing her wrist to stop her before she could release.

Startled, Estelle asked, "What?"

Very gently, Yuri eased her hand out from over the pot. "You don't want to do that," he said.

Estelle looked confused. "Doesn't the recipe call for water chestnuts?" she asked him.

Chuckling, Yuri shook his head, prying open her fingers to show her what she'd been about to drop in his favorite dish. "Those aren't water chestnuts."

"They're not?" Estelle repeated, expression turning slightly horrified.

"Nope." He popped one of the little disks off her palm to hold it up. "That is in fact very nicely chopped up ginger root. _ Raw _ginger root."

Estelle flushed red with embarrassment, dropping the rest of the ginger root onto her cutting board. "I… couldn't tell," she admitted sheepishly.

"How do you not know what water chestnuts look like?" Yuri teased, playfully nudging her arm. "Haven't you been around me and my cooking long enough to pick that up?"

The young lady smiled bashfully. "I guess not. Maybe you could give me a few lessons?"

Sliding comfortably around behind her, winding his arms around her hips, Yuri embraced her, kissing the top of her head affectionately. "Anytime," he promised, genuine warmth in his voice.

Estelle's heart fluttered. She reached up to hold Yuri's arms, feeling the safety and strength in his embrace.

Coughing lightly, she regained her composure. "So, uh… where _are_ the water chestnuts?" she asked.

Yuri laughed as he pulled them down for her.

-TOV-

About fifteen minutes later, Estelle set the plate down in front of Yuri, then took up a chair on the other side of the table.

Yuri picked up his fork and dug in, bringing a mouthful of the dish up to his lips. The girl sitting across from him watched anxiously as he chewed and swallowed.

"Well… how it is?" she pressed.

Yuri let the mouthful drop down his gullet before he smiled and answered, "It's perfect."

She beamed, delighted and relieved. "Thank goodness!"

Yuri gestured with his plate towards her. "Well don't let me eat all of it. Have a taste," he said, lifting a forkful of noodles and veggies into her mouth.

"Mmmn…" she sighed, eyes closing happily as the food hit her tongue. "It _is_ good!" she told him, discreetly reaching for her napkin to wipe the trailing juice off her chin.

Yuri swirled his fork around in his dish, contemplative. "So, not that I'm complaining or anything, but what made you decide you wanted to cook me dinner today?" he asked her.

Estelle's smile returned, and she recited, in a lilting cadence:

_"Whereby a man doth think of food and drink_

_And by his appetites affection gives,_

_Thus shall I pour him wine and bring him meat_

_To sate his hunger and his thirst and so_

_Thereby his desired affection earn."_

"What's that from?" wondered Yuri, around a mouthful of food.

She was about to reply, and then her expression shifted. "Wait, are you serious?" she asked.

"Serious about what?"

"You've never heard Travis V. McWilliamshire's 'Treatise on Gregorio and Ellaina'? That's the most famous quote from it!"

Yuri felt rather dense as he responded, "Who?"

Estelle gasped. "The playwright? Renowned the world over? His works regularly performed in every major and minor theater?" she prompted anxiously.

He shook his head. "Uh… going to the theater wasn't exactly… my_ thing _growing up."

Estelle straightened in her seat, slapping her palms on the table. "That settles it!" she declared. She relaxed back in the chair, offering him a smile. "The next time the Travelshire Players are in town and putting on one of his productions, I'll _have_ to take you!"

Yuri finished a mouthful and swallowed. "Only if I get to bring drinks," he told her.

"Deal!" she said, folding her chin on her hands and grinning broadly.

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(A/N)- And yes, the poem is written in iambic pentameter. That was a pain.


End file.
